The iCalendar interoperability standard has brought productivity and publish-and-subscribe ease to only a portion of those wishing to share their calendars. Now a new emerging standard, CalDAV, can make cross-client calendar interoperability an even greater benefit. Apple, IBM, and others are on board. Google and Microsoft are hold-outs. But calendar interoperability guru Scott Mace, editor of Calendar Swamp, thinks that if Google adopts CalDAV it will force Microsoft's hand to bring standards-based calendaring to the Microsoft Outlook and Exchange products, as well as its Live online offerings. Listen to Mace's take on the calendar standards adoption outlook in this 30-minute BriefingsDirect podcast moderated by Dana Gardner of Interarbor Solutions. Also peruse the transcript of the discussion at http://briefingsdirect.blogspot.com/2006/09/full-transcript-of-dana-gardners_27.html.

SOA, virtualization, network convergence, intelligent network services, and higher levels of standardization are swirling about -- not just as buzzwords but as individual disrupters to IT. But what about collectively? Which of these trends fit together for larger pay-offs? We put such questions to Bill Ruh, the vice president of Advanced Services at Cisco Systems. Today's modern architectures and networks must provide "integration for everyone," says Ruh. Learn how this need for pervasive integration will affect developers, architects, CIOs, users and business planners in this 30-minute BriefingsDirect podcast discussion. Also peruse the transcript of the discussion at http://briefingsdirect.blogspot.com/2006/09/full-transcript-of-dana-gardners.html.